Hurricane Oscar Sets Record as Smallest Atlantic Hurricane, Leaves Trail of Damage in the Caribbean and Cuba

Surprise from the Atlantic: The Birth and Growth of Hurricane Oscar

Meteorologists noticed something strange brewing off the West African coast in mid-October 2024. What began as a typical, unremarkable tropical wave quickly escalated in intensity. The weather community soon focused its attention on a fast-strengthening system destined to become Hurricane Oscar. By October 19, satellites confirmed Oscar had evolved into a Category 1 hurricane – and not just any hurricane, but the smallest one ever documented in Atlantic history.

Picture this: hurricane-force winds squeezed into a core with a radius of only 5 to 6 miles. That's about the width of a medium-sized city. But don't let its size fool you — this storm punched hard. Packing maximum sustained winds at 85 mph (roughly 137 km/h), Oscar charged westward, mowing a narrow but dangerous path through the Caribbean.

Oscar's Swath: Destruction Across Islands and Cuba

The first place to feel Oscar’s wrath was Grand Turk Island in the Turks and Caicos. Islanders there faced battering winds, heavy rains, and quickly rising waters — all crammed into a tight storm band that moved rapidly. Great Inagua Island in the Bahamas was next in line. Though its area of hurricane-force winds was narrow, Oscar’s power concentrated high winds and driving rain in such a tight corridor, overwhelming local infrastructure and flooding roads in just hours.

Oscar didn’t stop there. After roaring past the Bahamas, the storm made landfall in Cuba’s eastern Guantanamo province, near the city of Baracoa, late on October 20. Winds stayed close to 80 mph (130 km/h) when it struck. Eastern Cuba, especially Guantanamo and Holguín provinces, already faced a major challenge: a nationwide power blackout that started even before Oscar’s arrival. The hurricane made matters worse, ripping through damaged grids, toppling lines, and cutting access to critical resources.

The storm's rainfall hammered the eastern landscape, causing rivers to spill over and triggering landslides in hilly areas. First responders discovered eight people had lost their lives in the chaos. Streets filled with debris, fallen trees, and bits of rooftops. Floodwaters crept into homes along riverbanks, forcing hundreds to evacuate. Local authorities estimated that the total damage for Cuba alone hit $50 million, a serious blow for already vulnerable communities.

After trampling eastern Cuba, Oscar swerved sharply to the northeast. The hurricane quickly weakened over land, re-emerging in the Atlantic as a tropical storm before finally breaking apart on October 22. By then, the main threat had faded, but Oscar’s brief passage left a vivid memory in the Caribbean.

Even though meteorologists warned the Bahamas and southeastern U.S. east coast about the risk of heavy rainfall and flash floods, the storm’s compact wind field meant the mainland U.S. dodged a direct hit. However, the Caribbean experience with Hurricane Oscar serves as another reminder that even the smallest storms can change lives in a flash.